Author's Notes: Just a story featuring Garland, right before the battle with him in Final Fantasy, though I'm using his appearance in Dissidia as a template for his character image. However, due to how I made the fic, the lines of the confrontation with him at the end are all original, if somewhat based on what's said in the game.
Disclaimer (I hate always having to drop these into stories): I do not own Final Fantasy, that's Square Enix's job. If I did, we'd have FF VI DS and a FF VII remake by now.
An Honorable Knight
Present Time:
A knight with a horned helmet stood in the Chaos Shrine, awaiting the coming of the king's forces. It was a dismal ruin, with broken pillars, cracked floors and numerous hordes of bats. He looked down at his bound captive. Oddly, she didn't fight back. Unlike other hostages, she never had any hope of escape in the first place considering her captor.
"I wasn't always like this." He thought. "There was a time when I laid down my life for my kingdom, when I didn't resort to these types of schemes. But that's all in the past. When I thought that I had power. Soon I will KNOW that I have power. Power is sustenance." The knight shook his head slightly. "But, as I think this, my mind lingers back to those days…"
"ARGH!"
The figure in cerulean blue armor fell to the ground as a large fist caught his head. He rubbed the reddening part of his face, trying to dull the pain.
"Don't shift your weight like that." His teacher said deadpan. "It imbalances you."
"Yes, sir…" The knight answered looking up at his teacher's horned helmet. "… Garland." He slowly lifted himself up and lunged forward with his sword.
CLANG!
Garland watched his student sparring from a roofed balcony, the wind causing his white and blue cape to flap about. This balcony was covenant, for it obscured him from view, but allowed to see all that happened in the training grounds.
His student tried an overhead strike at his sparring partner, but stumbled over an outcropping of dirt and landed face first on the ground. The other soldiers humored themselves by watching the show, pointing and laughing at the knight.
Leaving his sword to lay on the ground, the knight tried to hit his opponent with his fists, but none of his blows landed squarely, and some, not at all.
"How goes the training, Garland?"
"King Cornelia." Garland said, kneeling on his knee.
"Please, old friend, there's no need for such formalities." King Cornelia said, helping Garland up. The king looked out into training grounds. "What's this? Not fighting with their swords?"
"If it displeases you, my lord, I will intervene at once." Garland said about to head down a flight of stairs.
"No, Garland, it's alright." The king sighed. "In fact, being adept at both hand-to-hand and swordplay wouldn't hurt, given what we're up against."
"Yes." Garland answered. He looked out into the grounds once more. Everyone gathered around his student. He had but just arrived, but the king had ordered him to personally train the boy.
"More monsters wander the countryside. They are also too tough for our new recruits to handle." Garland said. "We don't have enough experienced soldiers. If the numbers of monsters grow too much, it'll be war, and we'll be overrun."
"As, it is as we fear." The king answered. "If only we had an edge. We have magic, but so do the monsters and they have it dangerously so."
"We need more power." Garland spoke.
"We need the four warriors, and soon." The king sighed.
Garland looked out into the grounds and stared at the crystal that hung around on his student's neck by a necklace. "Is that why am training the boy? Do you believe him, of all people, to be one of the warriors?"
"He will learn and he will grow." The king said.
Garland stood in the train grounds, sparring with his student. A few months had done much to improve the boy's muscles and his skill in combat had improved considerable. Garland leaned left slightly, dodging a coming shield attack. His saber then met with his student's sword and they were deadlocked.
But Garland wasn't putting his full weight on it.
Unleashing more of his incredible strength Garland pushed the knight over. "You've improved. But never try that against an opponent bigger than you. You'll lose every time."
"You're one to talk, you walking mass of muscle." The knight chuckled.
"I'll tell you what are walking masses of muscles, those monsters." One soldier, a Red Mage, said. "Too bad they don't have a commander like Sir Garland. Or maybe too good, then we'd all be in trouble."
"Those monsters are completely mindless. They heed no one." Another commented. "If only there was someone more powerful than us or the monsters, then something could get done.
"Someone more powerful? Hm…" Garland pondered. If there was someone that strong then no one would have to worry about monster attacks, or wars, possibly not even death.
"Sir Garland!" A messenger cried out, running across the courtyard to them. "The king wishes to see you! It's urgent!"
"I will be there at once." He said, about to take off. He turned to his student and point at the ground. "No matter what happens, stay here." He ordered.
"But, sir, I-"
"Stay!" Garland again ordered.
Garland entered the throne room with a slam of the doors, but he never minded that it disturbed and disrupted everyone in the room. No one else minded this time either, things were hectic already. Aides, scholars and battle tacticians all stood or sat at hastily brought in tables. Some were still in their sleeping robes, evidence that they had just woken up.
"You called for me, your majesty?"
"Ah, Garland!" The king said. As usual, the king was sitting in his throne, listening and reading the reports from his aides. "It's about time." The king ushered for his aides to leave him and rose from his throne. "There has been an attack."
"By whom? Where? How may do we face?"
"It was monsters." The king answered. "A large force of them emerged from a forest and attacked a small village."
"How many casualties?" Garland asked, a nagging suspicion told him he knew what the answer was.
"Save for the messenger, every man, woman, and child was killed. All that is left of the village is scorched earth." The king said. "The messenger said that they didn't know what was happening until the attack started."
"They came that fast?" Garland sighed. "I will take a good amount of men. The rest should stay here to protect the palace. We should pull some men from the surrounding villages, if necessary."
"Garland, I trust your judgment…" One scholar said. "But wouldn't be better to pull all of our forces to the castle and hold as a line of defense before initiating any sort of retaliation?"
"Those monsters will not wait for us to gather our men to fight!" Garland argued. "We must deal with this force quickly if Cornelia is to survive!" Garland turned quickly and ran from the chamber.
"Wait! You can't-"
"Let him go."
All the aides turned to King Cornelia, whose stern face was placed on his hands. "Just let him go. Even if… something does go wrong… I believe it was meant to happen this way."
Garland mounted his horse and rode out from the stables, meeting his army at the gate. To his surprise, his student, his student's Red Mage friend, a Black Mage and Princess Sara were there as well. Once he arrived, he dismounted.
"We're coming to the field with you!" His student said, mounting his horse.
"No!" Garland ordered. "You do not have enough experience for this! You are to remain here at the castle."
"B-but-"
"No buts!" Garland said in a stern voice. "And that goes for you two as well." He said to the Red and Black Mages.
"Yes sir." The Red Mage answered. The three of them head back to the castle, knowing that Garland's mind couldn't be changed.
"Now, My Lady, what are you doing here?" Garland asked, turning to the princess. "Do you wish to fight too? You know that your father would never allow it."
"No." Sara said. "I came to give you this." She handed him a potion.
"I accept it gratefully." He said, nodding respectfully.
"Will you come back?" Sara asked.
Despite their age difference, the King and Garland were close friends, so Garland and Sara had also become well acquainted.
"I do not know." Garland answered. "But I will try."
"Garland, may I ask a favor?" Sara asked.
"Whatever you wish."
"Could you remove your helmet? If I don't see you again, I want to see your face, one last time."
Garland nodded and undid his helmet locks. As he took the helmet off, he gave Sara the widest smile he could. Rarely did he remove his helmet, only when he slept at night usually, however, he seldom smiled.
Garland slashed his sword, cleaving through at least five monsters and wounding several others.
"Damned goblins!" Garland thought. "They're so damn annoying!" He grabbed a sword from a fallen warrior. He wouldn't need it.
Flowing fiercely, quickly, but quickly, into each move, he cleared a path in the battalion of goblins.
"This way men!" Garland ordered. His forces came from behind him, widening the path whilst knocking monsters into trees and slaying them.
Garland followed behind, taking out the strangling monsters easily. Then he continued following his men, trying to keep up. A barrage of spells hurtled at him. Ducking, the spells flew over his head and collided with the trees. Another barrage from the opposite direction came and hit his attackers head on.
Garland saw his men dispersed in the forest around him. The battle seemed deadlocked, with neither side giving way. Suddenly a red glow caught his attention…
"The monsters are setting the forest on fire!" Garland grunted.
He had given his men, especially the mages, orders not to use any flames. Not only was it the dry season, but areas that once had large amounts of rainfall, such as this once had, were suddenly experiencing a harsh drought.
The flames and monsters were closing in on him. Garland ran as fast as he could into a monster a soldier field clearing. The way behind him was already enveloped by the fire; no one could make it through and live.
"About time I carved myself out some elbow room." Garland thought, brandishing both blades. He swung rapidly, taking out 5… 8… 12 monsters. However, even more than that had just poured into the clearing. Worse yet, the fire grew steadily closer. The red glow seeped through the trees and smoked the blood covered battle field.
"The fire draws nearer and the monsters are endless. They themselves will be killed in the fire. Though they are mindless, this battle must have some goal, some reason." Garland lamented. The battle was hopeless. The fire completely surrounded the field, blocking all escape.
The fire stopped moving suddenly. While the stalling of their demise was welcomed, their deaths were inevitable.
"All death is inevitable." Spoke Garland. "B-but…" He raised his swords high, ready to smash down on an enemy. "I cannot die here! I SHALL NOT DIE!" His swords cleaved straight through the monster, and on contact with the ground a hellish inferno burst forth from them. "EVER! What good is power if it can't cheat death!"
"What?!" The flames circled around him, enveloping human and monster alike. Their screams of agony were lost in the wind of the blazes.
Garland turned about as the flames started closing on him. Soon, he'd have no room to back away from the fire. Shadows started appearing in the flames, some of the monsters, mindlessly running through the flames, some of his army, pounding of the ground in pain and burning to death.
Suddenly, larger shadows, that of monstrous creatures, appeared. One was a giant skeleton wearing robe. The next was an octopus or squid like creature, also in robes. The one after them was a serpentine demon with the body of a multi-armed woman. The fourth, and last, one was a multi-headed dragon.
The four circled Garland, the flames holding their position around him.
"He is the one." The skeletal creature said.
"Indeed." The octopus agreed, sounding somewhat pompous.
"The one?" Garland breathed. "The one for what?"
"You are the one who will assist us." The snake woman said, her voice alone reeked of venom.
"You are bound to us." The dragon said, her words slow and sounded as if many different voices spoke.
"You say that you wished to have the power to cheat death, yes?" The skeleton spoke. "We can give it to you."
"How?"
"You must oppose the Four Warriors of Light." The snake being said. "It is said that they will kill you. But we shall pull you 2000 years into the past and you shall use the power we give you to send us forth into the future."
"And so we will have created an endless cycle of time that will allow you to live forever!" The octopus shouted.
"Shall you join us?" The dragon growled. "Not doing so means that which you avoid."
"I agree." Upon these words, Garland was enveloped by the inferno and ran out engulfed in flames. His silver armor burned to a dull grey and his cape had completely burned away. Suddenly, an invisible force started pumping the flame and smoke into his body. His muscles doubled in size, and he gained more height. The smoke manifested itself into a purple and gold lined caped.
"We've given you the power to cheat death, so says…"
"… The Fiend of Earth, the Lich…"
"… The Fiend of Water, Kraken…"
"…The Fiend of Fire, Marilith…"
"And the Fiend of Wind, Tiamat. Go now, and fulfill your destiny."
The flames encompassing the forest vanished with the coming of a strong wind. All that was left was smoldered armor and crackling corpses. As Garland walked away, he remembered that his sword had been destroyed by the inferno. And no town shop would sell him a weapon looking like this.
"I'll need to find a new weapon." He said.
"I think I can help with that." A mysterious voice said. Garland looked forward and saw there, sitting on a still burning stump in front of him, was a shadowy creature. If the being wasn't completely black and had an air of danger around him, he could have been just a child.
From behind the stump, the shadow child produced a large segmented broadsword. He ran up and presented it to Garland. "This is the Fang of Chaos. It is a weapon-shifting sword and my finest creation."
"I'll put it to good use." Garland answered, picking up the sword. Even with Garland's newly demonic strength, the sword was very heavy. So heavy, in fact, that Garland had to handle it with a reverse grip.
The shadow gave a devilish smile. "I'm sure you will. But I shall require your soul as payment."
"Very well." Garland said. "It shall not be a problem for I will never die."
"We'll see." The child said, disappearing into the smoke of the former battlefield.
Garland approached Cornelia on a burning mount pulled straight from the demonic planes of hell itself. Due to him being the only survivor of the battle at the forest, they were militarily weakened and unprepared. The sun had already set, there was no moon out and a thick cloud cover blocked out all light from the stars…
All the elements were in his favor, they would never see him coming…
"It's breached the outer wall!" A watchman yelled. He and his men had noticed the attack much too late and Garland, under the cover of shadow, had already broken through the wall.
Though putting up a valiant fight, most of the watchmen laid dead at his feet, in-between him and Garland. Reinforcements were pouring from the barracks behind him.
"Mwahaha!" Garland laughed. "I remember the soldiers of Cornelia to be better than this." As he swung his sword clicking sounds came from it. After each click, the sword grew longer and became a lance. With one swipe, Garland massacred an entire row of soldiers. "Or is it that I took all the good men with me!"
"He's not human anymore!" A soldier cried, fleeing away from the scene.
"Yes, Yes! Run away!" Garland shouted. "At least you'll live a little longer!"
From the soldiers came a commander. As he drew dual katana, his eyes glared from under his masked helmet. "I do not know what happened to you Sir Garland. But what you have done is treason and stains the honor of a knight of Cornelia!"
"Honor?" Garland questioned. "Honor? Do you tell me that you hold to that fallacy?!" Garland split his sword in half and lunged at the group. "What need do I have of honor anymore?!" He brought both swords down and, with one mighty blow of his strength, crushed most of them into broken piles. "I am more powerful than any of you!"
The only one who was not on the ground was the commander. He looked from his fallen comrades to Garland, a look of sheer terror in his eyes.
Garland recombined his swords and walked threateningly slow towards him. "For your 'honor', ninja, I'll make your end as slow and brutal as I know how…"
Garland walked through the corridors of Castle Cornelia. They were relatively empty, save for the occasional servant looking for shelter from the attack or castle guard. With him he carried the semi-conscious Princess Sara.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a servant. Using his extending sword, he stopped him from fleeing. "Give the king this message: The time of the prophecy is at hand. I demand one thing and one thing only. I want the throne of Cornelia because he doesn't deserve it. In exchange, I'll return his daughter, though he is welcome to try and mount a rescue." Garland retracted the sword and called to the servant as he fled. "I shall be waiting at the Chaos Shrine. He has one week or he'll never see Sara again."
Garland entered the Chaos Shrine, still carrying Princess Sara. This place was once revered and sanctioned carefully. Now, it was a keep of darkness and held many secrets in its walls. Garland didn't worry about the monsters or bats in the shrine. After all, they were under his command.
He opened the doors to an inner room of the shrine. He place Sara in front of an altar holding a crystal of darkness and waited.
"The king will never trade the kingdom. He will send the Warriors of Light to recapture his daughter." Garland thought.
Present Time:
Garland continued waiting. Even before gaining more power it was something he didn't like doing. Patience was rarely ever of virtue to him.
He heard the doors of the temple slowly creaking open. From them came his student, sword ready, followed by a Black Mage, a thief and a Red Mage. Garland turned around slowly.
"Ah! So the powerless king sent lapdogs to retrieve his daughter from me?" Garland chuckled.
"Garland!" His student yelled, brandishing his sword. "You will pay for this treachery!"
"I will, will I? Very well then…" Garland held his sword in a reverse grip and pulled in his arm, flexing his large muscles. "I, Garland, shall knock you all down!"
Author's Notes: My first FF Fanfic… hope I did okay. I just posted this to flex my writing skills a bit and to give a back-story to Garland (the original sure didn't, but I can't blame 'em). Well, summer vacation's here and I hope you enjoy it. I know I will.